Résultats lu par "Cate Barratt" dans Toutes les catégories

Guy de Maupassant is widely regarded as the father of the modern short story. As his 13 volumes of short stories attest, he was a prolific writer of this form. He had a simple, efficient style of writing and, like Anton Chekhov, found inspiration for his stories in the day-to-day lives of characters, in which their hidden natures are often revealed. Many of his works also centered on the Franco-Prussian War, in which he served.

Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) may be considered the Canadian counterpart to Mark Twain. For many years he was professor of economics at Magill University and published a number of well-regarded texts on economics and political science. However, he is best known today for his many volumes of humorous fiction. During the 1920s he was one of the most widely read authors in the English-speaking world and was considered by Jack Benny and Groucho Marx to be one of the greatest comic writers of all time.

After the death of their father, Oedipus, Antigone and Ismene return to Thebes. The ruler is their unyielding uncle by marriage, Creon, who assumed command after the death of the sons of Oedipus, Eteocles, and Polynices in a fratricidal struggle to take control of the city. Creon has the body of one brother buried with full civic honors but forbids the burial of the body of the other, whom he regards as a traitor. Antigone's challenge to Creon's decree, which she considers unjust, results in the extinction of the family line of Oedipus.

One of France's greatest writers, Voltaire was frequently persecuted for his ideas and as a result, spent time in the famed Bastille. He fled his native land for England in 1726, at which time he witnessed the differences between the two countries. His celebrated Letters on England was first published in that nation in 1733 and contained 24 succinct letters on subjects ranging from religion and politics, to trade, the arts, philosophy, and science.

Russell once said, "Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric." His views on religion in general, and on Christianity in particular (as in this work), were considered "eccentric" by many of his contemporaries. So were his views on sex, which figures frequently as an example of the misery that Christian leaders and thinkers inflict, and for which he was often vilified. The lectures in this collection leave no doubt about his views on these and related subjects.

One of Canada's most cherished writers, British-born Stephen Leacock was probably best known and loved for his works of light humor. First published in 1912, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is one of his most popular and enduring pieces of fiction. This collection of short stories describes the people that comprise a typical but fictional small town in Ontario - Mariposa. The book's appeal lies in the universality of the characters Leacock describes so eloquently, they live out their 'large' lives in the little town.

American psychologist William James (1842-1910) was also a philosopher of considerable repute and borrowed the theory of pragmatism first put forward by Charles Peirce to help form his own interpretation of the philosophy. Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking is based on the notion that the meaning of any idea is valid only if it works both experientially and practically. The book consists of a series of eight lectures, delivered at the Lowell Institute in Boston in November and December of 1906, and at Columbia University in January 1907.

Friedrich Engels carved out this pamphlet from his larger work Anti-Dühring, which was a response to Eugen Dühring's socialist theories. "Socialism: Utopian and Scientific" tables the major elements of the larger Anti-Dühring work, and remains a concise reading of Marxist ideas.

Over a 25-year period, author Maurice Leblanc wrote of the exploits of gentleman thief and master of disguise Arsène Lupin, to the delight of readers on the continent and elsewhere. Often referred to as France's version of Sherlock Holmes, Lupin in this early appearance is wrongfully accused of the death of a prominent German millionaire with nefarious plans. The thief and the mysterious killer find themselves in a race to find an incriminating bundle of letters that, in the wrong hands, could change the political map of the world.

Queen Marguerite de Navarre was one of the most powerful women of her age. Her masterpiece, The Heptameron, is a collection of some 72 stories told by five gentlemen and five ladies who find themselves stranded in an abbey. Proposed as an edifying way of passing the time while a bridge is being repaired, the tale-telling - as well as the conversations that follow each story - quickly becomes a battle of wits between the sexes, with tales concerning illicit lovers, romantic conquests, lecherous monks, manly honor, and women's virtue.

Bertrand Russell was a firm believer in Communism, noting that the greatest fault of the capitalist system is not the concentration of money, but of power. The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism, written following a trip to Soviet Russia in 1920, reflects his observations of the Bolshevik approach to this ideal.

Born in England in 1869, Stephen Leacock would immigrate to Canada and become a teacher, political scientist, and writer. He would ultimately come to be best known and loved as a humourist. Literary Lapses was first published as a collection of sketches in 1910, although many of the individual stories were first printed in various newspapers and periodicals, such as Punch, New York Life, and the Detroit Free Press.

The Analysis of the Mind by Bertrand Russell is a collection of 15 lectures he delivered in 1920. Russell was a highly reputed philosopher, mathematician, and social critic, and would go on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.

Sense and Sensibility is Jane Austen’s first published novel. It tells the much-loved story of the two, very different, Dashwood sisters. Elinor suppresses her own emotions out of a keen sense of responsibility to her family and friends, while Marianne is highly expressive and romantic. When their father dies, British law leaves everything to their half-brother and his tight-fisted wife, and Elinor and Marianne, along with their mother and younger sister, have to move to a cottage on a relative’s estate where they experience the full spectrum of romance and betrayal.

Guy de Maupassant, France's gift to the world of short stories, was a prolific writer of this genre. His complete collection numbers just under 200. Volume XII contains the following titles:

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (aka PG Wodehouse) wrote in excess of 90 books, 40 plays, and 200 short stories between 1902 and 1974 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest humorists of the 20th century. Right Ho, Jeeves! is his second in a series of books written about a luckless young British millionaire named Bertram Wooster and his sharp valet, Jeeves.

Listeners are invited to sit back and enjoy this collection of classic Yuletide tales....

American philosopher and psychologist William James was considered one of the late 19th century's leading thinkers and the "Father of American Psychology". This collection of essays includes four on James' belief that religious faith is an acceptable way of viewing the world, despite the absence of empirical evidence; the remaining papers include a discussion of the important contributions of individuals to society, a criticism of Hegelisms, and his curiosity in the matter of psychical research.

Hornung published this second volume of the adventures of genius cracksman A.J. Raffles in 1901. Raffles is always casing rich homes to burgle, and is always accompanied by his trusted friend and confidant 'Bunny.' While they generally score, their escapades are never without a certain degree of risk, but Raffles seems always prepared.

Mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell was prompted to write and publish Why Men Fight (in 1917) as he and the world were experiencing the Great War. Russell shares his thoughts on how to end war - not just between states, but also between classes and individuals.